Marlins Notes: Bender, Fairbanks, Meyer

The Marlins are hanging in the playoff race, currently four games back of the final Wild Card spot with three weeks to go. They don’t have a lot of margin for error, which makes it frustrating that right-hander Anthony Bender has seemingly hit a setback. Per the MLB.com injury tracker, he was scheduled to throw off a mound this past weekend but has instead stopped throwing. He made a rehab appearance August 18 but had lingering soreness in his right shin after. He is now set for re-evaluation. Bender hit the 15-day injured list on June 30 with a stress reaction in that shin. That interrupted a really strong season for him. Prior to hitting the IL, he tossed 34 1/3 innings with a 2.62 earned run average. That ERA was slightly higher than last year’s 2.16 mark but this year’s results were on a stronger foundation. Last year, his 20.6% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate were subpar. The low ERA was mostly due to a lucky .213 batting average on balls in play and 82.7% strand rate. This year’s BABIP and strand rate have regressed closer to average while Bender improved his walk rate to 8.6% and shot his strikeout rate all the way up to 29.3%. The loss of Bender has seemingly been felt in Miami. Though the end of June, the team’s relievers had a collective 3.38 ERA, fifth best in the majors. Since then, the bullpen has a combined 5.03 ERA, fifth worst in the majors. Getting Bender back before the end of the season would be nice but it may be less possible now. He has been out for more than 60 days at this point and could be in line for a move to the 60-day IL, though the Marlins already have an open 40-man spot at the moment. On the other hand, it does seem like Pete Fairbanks is on the verge of rejoining the club. Per the report linked above, he recently threw live batting practice and a “bullpen-like” session and is now expected to be reinstated from the IL on Wednesday. Fairbanks has not been having his best season, currently sitting on a 6.02 ERA. However, a lot of that is due to a very unlucky 58% strand rate and he was trending in a good direction before hitting the IL. He posted a 1.80 ERA with a huge 42.1% strikeout rate in his 11 most recent appearances. Unfortunately, that’s when right median nerve irritation put him on the shelf, an issue he has dealt with in the past. He is now set to return after just a minimal stint and will hopefully be able to pick up right where he left off. Turning to the rotation, right-hander Max Meyer has finally resumed throwing. He landed on the IL on July 19 due to a neck strain, so he’s been out of action for over seven weeks now. It’s encouraging that he has resumed throwing but he doesn’t have a lot of time left to build up after that long layoff. Even if he is able to rejoin the Marlins before the season is done, he surely won’t be stretched out. The Fish have a rotation consisting of Sandy Alcantara, Eury Pérez, Janson Junk, Tyler Phillips and Ryan Gusto and will probably stick with that group for the stretch run. Meyer has shown the capacity to be a starter in terms of his results but is still looking to make gains in terms of workload. Back in 2021, he got to 111 innings in the minors. In 2022, Tommy John surgery limited him to 66 frames, majors and minors combined. He missed all of 2023. He got up to 115 frames in 2024, majors and minors combined, but hip surgery capped him at 64 2/3 frames last year. This year, he has thrown 111 innings so far, easily the highest total of his big league career but a range he’s been in before when factoring in his minor league work. Photo courtesy of John Jones, Imagn Images